Dr Tonya Meyrick is a designer, researcher and academic working at the intersection of regenerative design, colour, HCI and ethical practice. She holds a Vice-Chancellor's Senior Research Fellowship at RMIT University in the School of Design and Social Context, where she is establishing the Chroma Waste Lab and founding a new design research field of ethical colour.

This work leads from Perpetual Pigments, a practice-led project developing bio-derived, non-extractive pigments from textile waste as a sustainable alternative to synthetic colour systems. Having attracted over $1 million in competitive research funding, the project was co-developed with First Nations collaborators, received an international award citation at the International Anthem Awards in Sustainability (2024) and was showcased at the 13th International Design Biennial in Saint-Etienne. It demonstrates how design can activate circular economies and fundamentally rethink colour production.

Tonya's broader research portfolio spans 18 traditional research outputs across peer-reviewed journals, alongside over 85 non-traditional research outputs encompassing exhibition curation, speculative artefacts and interdisciplinary collaborations. Her internationally exhibited practice-led research responds to urgent global challenges, particularly environmental sustainability and material circularity, by advancing design as a socially embedded, culturally grounded and systems-oriented discipline.

She is a Research Leader at the Centre for Digital Ecology (CODE) at RMIT and a Chief Investigator on ARC Linkage project LP25010035 (2027-2030) in collaboration with Deakin University's Institute for Frontier Materials. Her collaborators include UNESCO, the United Nations, Textile Recyclers Australia, Rip Curl and Creative Victoria.

Tonya's design leadership is evidenced through awards from Good Design Australia, the International Anthem Awards and the Victorian Premier's Design Awards, alongside her curatorial role for Geelong Design Week and exhibitions at the Venice and Saint-Etienne Design Biennales. Her work is internationally recognised and spans research, curation and industry partnership across national and global sustainability contexts.

At the core of her practice is a belief in design as a transformative force, one that not only addresses problems but generates new ways of thinking, living and relating. Tonya continues to redefine design's capacity to shape a more just, connected and regenerative world.